October 21, 2015 Bruce Benson 2015 Pipeline Safety Seminar Mt Snow, VT Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Personnel Program Manager Karl Baker 22 years Engineer 3 Bruce Benson 18 years Engineer 3 Daniel Nivison 17 years Engineer 2 John DePaolo 5 years Engineer 1 Daniel Tomasino 2 years Engineer Intern Kevin Dowling 1 year Damage Prevention Inspector Joseph Gallo 16 years
Cast Iron & Unprotected Steel Inventory Start of Year Cast Iron Main Unprotected Bare or Coated Steel Main Unprotected Bare or Coated Steel Services Miles Miles Quantity 2010 1542 265 80732 2011 1509 250 77404 2012 1467 236 73160 2013 1426 221 69731 2014 1381 218 60929 Mains 20% leak prone Services 15% leak prone
Accelerated Infrastructure Replacement Yankee Gas last rate case 67 years down to less than 20 years Norwich municipal 23 years heading down to less than 15 years CNG last rate case 31 years down to less than 20 years tracker mechanism SCG Proposed 61 years down to 31 years
Grade 3 Leaks Tackling growing Class 3 leak back log Significant portion of Grade 3 leaks are on modern materials Leak-prone pipe handled through replacement Modern materials set time frame for repairs
Comprehensive Energy Strategy Major Natural Gas Expansion Mid 1800 s to 2013 500,000 customers 2014 to 2023 add 280,000 customers Between replacement and expansion substantial new construction new contractors from out-ofstate Concerns about workforce availability
Civil Penalties Year Number Assessed Dollars Assessed Number Collected Dollars Collected 2010 0 $0 0 $0 2011 0 $0 0 $0 2012 3 $105,000 2 $75,000 2013 10 $292,000 11 $309,479 2014 3 $31,500 2 $6,500 2015 to date 7 $196,000 5 $221,000
Civil Penalties 2015 to date $25,000 incorrect installation of split sleeves $12,000 propane field installation violations $25,000 incorrect coupling installation $50,000 failure to comply with Authority Order $29,700 clamps on plastic pipe $51,300 clamps on plastic pipe $3,000 propane field installation violations $1,250 PPE issues
One-Call Year Total Locate Requests Total Damages per 1,000 Locates Total Gas Damages per 1,000 Locates Total Gas Damages due to Utility Error per 1,000 Locates Total Fines Collected 2008 160,074 4.15 1.7 0.5 $264,500 2009 146,878 3.21 1.3 0.4 $138,250 2010 170,895 3.53 1.6 0.4 $14,500 2011 168,467 2.84 1.3 0.3 $160,500 2012 173,000 3.03 1.6 0.6 $156,000 2013 182,177 3.11 1.6 0.4 $117,000 2014 189,366 2.86 1.5 0.4 $110,350
Damage Prevention One-Call Law Changes Submitted statutory changes in 2013 Approved 2014 Highlights: Clean up of some old statutes Minor revisions New option for areas of continual excavation (e.g. cemeteries, quarries, landfills, etc.) New regulations at Secretary of the State
Propane Continuing to locate new jurisdictional propane systems and their operators 27 Companies, ~350 systems We are not going to be your code compliance department!
Incidents NONE!
Top Safety Issues Construction Added staff Zero tolerance for violations first problem = civil penalties Third party damage Added staff Streamlined enforcement process penalties issued by GPSU, not lengthy commission process
Enforcement You have rules to follow you must follow them Your employees must do the job right the first time You have inspectors You have managers and supervisors We should NEVER be finding problems!
Questions? Karl Baker Public Utilities Supervisor of Technical Analysis karl.baker@ct.gov 860-827-2661